Thanks for that. I guess people then can only speculate what caused the problem, and I guess yahoo can't really complain if the media are coming to their own conclusions. I would have thought their customers deserved some broad explanation, not unless the issue is still open to abuse.

Thanks for that. I guess people then can only speculate what caused the problem, and I guess yahoo can't really complain if the media are coming to their own conclusions. I would have thought their customers deserved some broad explanation, not unless the issue is still open to abuse.

Meanwhile, Google opens up to (obviously)advertise their security prowess. But at least gives a bit of information.

mattwnz: Looks like xtras email is down at the moment. At least their pop server is down.

Yeah that's certainly true. And I thought I was being a good boy by changing my password when I first heard things were going tits up - so a big thanks Telecom!How come I can still access email via the Yahoo site with another new password but Outlook reports it cannot connect to the email server?CheersDave

mattwnz: Looks like xtras email is down at the moment. At least their pop server is down.

Yeah that's certainly true. And I thought I was being a good boy by changing my password when I first heard things were going tits up - so a big thanks Telecom!How come I can still access email via the Yahoo site with another new password but Outlook reports it cannot connect to the email server?CheersDave

The webmail still looks to be working fine, and the email accounts are still receiving emails. Possibly just their pop servers are failing to connect. But many people probably don't use webmail, and access it over a pop connection via outlook on on their mobile device.

Telecom’s Yahoo! Xtra active email customer base, whose accounts were compromised due to a cyber attack, have now changed their passwords.

On Saturday Telecom cancelled the existing passwords of approximately 87,000 accounts that were sending spam after a cyber attack. Since then more than 65,000 users have changed their passwords. The balance has been identified by Telecom as having been inactive for at least 90 days before the attack.

Telecom CEO Retail, Chris Quin, says the majority of the users who were impacted made the changes required online by following detailed steps on Telecom’s website.

“We really appreciate the patience our customers have shown during what we know was a hugely stressful and inconvenient time for them. We share our customers’ frustration which is why we are conducting a thorough review of this situation. In the meantime, we continue to urge everyone to regularly change their passwords, not just those who have been impacted by this incident.”

All Telecom broadband customers receive a complimentary Yahoo! Xtra email account as well as other benefits such as a free Flickr Pro account for managing photos and video content.

Mr Quin says Telecom’s broadband customer base has remained stable despite the cyber attack and the team are working hard to ensure that does not change. “Most customers understand that their email and broadband account are not mutually exclusive.”

Yahoo! NZ general manager, Laura Maxwell-Hansen, says, ““Yahoo! places considerable focus on email security and we have and will continue to work hard to minimize the impact of cyber attacks.”

Key Information:

Telecom has 450,000 broadband customers.

Yahoo! Xtra email is offered free of charge to all Telecom broadband customers.

The balance has been largely identified as inactive or infrequently accessed, meaning they had not accessed their email account for 90 days prior to the attack. These accounts will continue to have temporary passwords on them and the account holders will have to change their passwords before they are able to access the accounts. Telecom plans to contact those remaining account holders to ensure accounts are re-secured or closed.

Yahoo! has assured Telecom that there has been no evidence that email accounts were accessed for any other reason than to send spam.

Password has been changed and we're certainly not going to do that weekly. According to the news this morning they have had more problems. Why is it that xtra/yahoo seem to be the only provider having these problems??

To be fair it looks like the problems are from the accounts that have not had their passwords changed and other providers do have occasional issues.

However I get the feeling Yahoo is dumping on Telecom who just throw out the usual corporate statements and cover their backside before popping out to lunch. That's the problem when you outsource, everyone passes the buck and the customer ends up with service provided by dysfunctional relationships.